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Thread: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

  1. #1
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    Smiley Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Ok, the Moxer and I finally gave up on finding a place to rent. We were so tired of looking, and...well...I want to have painted walls! No more white! Anyway, we're in the process of looking, and I was just wondering if some of the more experienced house buyers have any good advice for a first time homebuyer. Ok, hit me with it- any and everything is appreciated!

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Do a search in the doller den there is a TON of info there on buying property.


    Seraya.


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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    I have and will do that, but it doesn't have to be just the "buying" part related. I just want to know...in general...what advice do people have? I don't want to buy and then regret it.

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    Featured Member Meea's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    just remember that any house you buy that you finance for 25 years will end up costing double its purchase price because of the interest.

    If you have a high income you are better off getting the king of loan that lets you pay as much as you want on top of your minimum payment

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    My best advice at the moment is rent with option to buy- if you can find a deal through a realtor. At the moment, unsold house/condo inventories are rising and market prices are declining in many cities. This puts the real estate 'speculators' in a very bad position in that they can't sell the house/condo they built/bought on 'spec' for the price they want (and probably can't sell it next month for the discount price they could get this month), while at the same time the monthly property maintenance/utility/mortgage interest expenses are ka-chinking away - and they've got no cash flow to offset the two pronged loss.

    Under these circumstances I'd be very leery of buying now when real estate prices could decline further over the next several months. Of course real estate markets vary widely from region to region, and you know much better than I do what the real estate market is doing in your area.

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    ^That's the kind of stuff I was wanting to know. Thanks, Melonie- I figured you'd have all the right info. As for our area, the real estate game still seems to be hot. For one, we've got the best school district in the area- people are buying to put their kids in this school district. Second, we've got the incoming/outgoing soldiers from the base that are buying/selling, so it seems things are still moving pretty well.

    As for us- we're looking to invest in something that's a little cheaper, fix it up, and then sell/rent when the time is right. We'll probably have to move to a bigger area later on (after finishing up degrees and such), but we'll be here for a while.

    Thanks!

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    It sounds like you're in El Paso maybe ? When I went through town a couple of months ago I couldn't friggin believe how fast that city is growing ... and I heard that the AFB has committed to adding another 20,000 personnel (= a 60,000 population increase with spouses and kids !). This area is going to keep growing, real estate is going to keep rising ... and the sooner you buy the better, because interest rates are rising, and once the extra GI's start arriving you won't be able to touch real estate prices !

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    ^ Pretty close. It's actually a very small town between Waco and Austin. I think the central location (plus easy access to I-35) makes it a popular area.

    We'll have to buy soon, though- our lease at the apartment is up at the end of this month, and we'll living with the mum-in-law until we find a place! Ack! (She's not that bad, really)

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    ^ If you are not experienced with rehabs, may I suggest you look for someone who IS. Find an appraiser and a home inspector who are the TOP in their game. I have known people who think a house just needs "cosmetic" work, buy the place, and then as their doing the cosmetic work, planning on spending $50,000, they find some major structural damage that they never even really thought of looking at (like the roof). Some damage is not visable or important to the untrained eye (ie: an appraiser may not notice).

    Why do you need both an appraiser and a home inspector? The appraiser can tell you how much the home is worth NOW in it's current condition, and how much the home would be worth if those conditions were improved/changed/updated. The home inspector will give you a complete list of what is wrong, what is very wrong, what needs to be done NOW, what can be done later, and what is not so important.

    People think that buying a fixer upper is a good investment. But, you have to estimate how much it would cost to fix it (parts and labor) and then double it. Think it'll only take you a month? Triple it. You'd be amazed at what ends up happening when you start ripping original fixtures out.

    We redid our kitchen. The cabinets were the original ugly cabinets from when the place was built in 1968. Ugly friggin cabinets. We got all of the stuff we needed to re-do the kitchen. Then began ripping out the cabinets and the flooring. We figured we'd need about 2 weeks to completely overhaul the kitchen...it ended up taking us almost a month. And, we had professional help (one of our good friends is a professional cabinet maker).

    Go into whatever house you are looking at with eyes wide open. Take paper, pen, and camera and record EVERYTHING that you like and dislike about the house. Keep it in a folder. I know this sounds anal, but you'd be amazed at how easily you forget the good things when you notice one bad thing...or how easily you forget the bad things when there is something you really LOVE about the house.

    That's the best advice I can give you. Oh, and have a pre-approval in your hands. When you know exactly how much you can get financed for...stay at least $50,000 under that.

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Well, I recently bought a house with my husband in the Austin area, and I think Real Estate is pretty low-risk around here for a primary residence. If the market were to drop, this is one of the places where you wouldn't lose THAT much money. It's not like you can lose $100,000 when you only paid $90,000-150,000. Keep in mind that property taxes are going to add a few hundred to your mortgage every month. The best thing you can do for yourself is be realistic in how much you can afford. Figure out what you can afford monthly, and stick to it, even your lender tells you you qualify for more. Use referals to find a lender and agent. I wasted a lot of time on a crappy agent and broker when I first moved out here. When you buy your first house, you realize you have to buy all this weird stuff you never thought of before, and it adds up in the pocket book. I easily spent a few hundred on misc items my first month, but my house was a fixer upper, and I was trying to make it liveable right away. I'm not expecting to make a fortune on my house when I sell either, but it gave me the ability to build equity and get a better house down the road.

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Venus- Lucky for me I've got my mom, dad, and step-dad backing me here (and my mom and step-dad just sold their house recently), so I've got all the same resources they had (since we're in the same area). Anything that I go look at and like will automatically get a second look by them, and then be inspected by a pro- that way we won't waste money unless it's something that's worth it.

    I need to get in touch with the lender my co-worker told me about. She said they were right there through the whole thing, unlike another local lender that here daughter used that she could hardly get in touch with.

    Girl- Real estate is still doing pretty well in our area (which I'm only about an hour away from you). We are being very realistic with our purchase price (which has narrowed things down a little bit), but we're at the point that we'd rather buy and have our payments go toward something rather than renting and "throwing money out the window" (<-- To quote my dad).

    Thanks! This is all the kind of information I was wanting to know!

  12. #12
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    HUD will help first-time homebuyers.


    You might also find this one helpful:

  13. #13
    Featured Member pixiepower329's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Ok Deni....if I remember correctly, you live EXTREMELY close to me. You may want to consider going 30 minutes up the road to Gatesville, housing there is about half the price of housing up here near the 35 corridor. I almost bought a 4 bedroom house with a fenced in back yard, owner financed, for 43000. If it creates too much of a drive.....I would recommend perhaps the Moody or Morgans Point areas.....housing is still reasonable in these areas.
    !

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    ^ Well....you're right, I'm right by you. Both the husband and I have stable jobs here (and I work less than 2 mins. from Morgan's Point, by the way), so we want to stay in this area. We've got a potential one picked out (we need to go look at it up close and get a showing and stuff) over by Stillhouse Lake (kind of going out toward Salado). It's not the best, but it's not bad at all- plus, it's outside the city limits.

    I won't get excited until I've actually looked at this place, but if it's a good one then I'll be ready to get it right away.

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    Veteran Member lwtex52's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    I have an excellent idea! Buy MY house! Only $549,000.99!
    My latest conspiracy theory: I am convinced that Dick Cheney is, in reality, Elmer Fudd.

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    ^Oh! How about...NO! Like I'd have that much money to drop. Bah...what do you think I am, rich or something?

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Well, *ahem*, you ARE a stripper...

  18. #18
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    ^Nah, I'm not. I'll get around to it someday...just haven't taken the dive, so to speak.

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Closing costs was what finally got me in the club to dance. I kept putting it off to lose 5 more pounds, until I realized how much money I needed. You sound like you'll do just fine and are very logical. It's soo exciting getting your first house and knowing you can do whatever you want to it, and have pets without being bugged. Good luck, and let us know how your search goes!

  20. #20
    buffie06
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Don't be afraid to check into building a brand new home too. IMO you avoid alot of the used home hassles and can get alot for your $$.

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    God/dess Silverback's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Quote Originally Posted by Deni
    I have and will do that, but it doesn't have to be just the "buying" part related. I just want to know...in general...what advice do people have? I don't want to buy and then regret it.
    Never invest in anything that eats or needs paint.
    "He will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldrini, the traveler came as a large and moving Torg! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor! Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!"

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Quote Originally Posted by Silverback
    Never invest in anything that eats or needs paint.
    Sounds like good advice to me!

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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    When I was a kid, I used to go to a summer camp around your area. Those were the days.

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    Veteran Member susie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    Don't look at the paint when buying a home. Look at the walls, has someone put on thick pain to hid cracks in the walls? Every one always looks to the ceilings, well, look down to the floors. Look in corners. Do not buy a moldy home. Look underneath the edging outside of the home to check for mold, and for paint with little bubbles in it under windows, in bathroom corners, and on all external walls.
    Always put in a bid for 8,000 less then the asking price, and let them talk you up buy 3 grand, and only 3 grand. Everybody always asks for more.
    Get the appliance home warranty, it costs like 900 for the sellers, but if any appliances break in the home w/in a one year period they get replaced or fixed for free.
    Check the roof, and smell for mold near the roof. Look to see if gutters are properly attached, and not bending away, or being ripped off. If the gutters aren't properly maintained it can lead to severe basement problems.
    Good luck, and remember, keep up with the little things before hey turn big, and do one big update per year(ne carpets, new sink, ect) to maintain and increase the value of your new home.
    I've owned my own home since I was 16, at one point juggaling 3 properties(vacation/hunting, party, and home), so if you have any more questions in details, then ask. I'm not an expert, but I know alittle
    Susie

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    Member blonddarlin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's All Help Deni Buy A House!

    I have nothing to contribute, except that my hometown was mentioned. Just remember Deni, if you choose to live in a smaller town, the housing might be cheaper, but you'll have to spend money driving 1/2 an hour to anywhere worthwhile- like work, the grocery, out to eat, etc. And I've heard school taxes in Moody are ridiculously high.
    Good luck!

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